Annie’s Angels Seeking $15,000 for 2008 Third World Surgeries

I’m headed to Ecuador soon because of a sore toe. A year ago I hobbled into the office of Dr. James Wilton, a Portsmouth podiatrist. While waiting to be treated, I watched a slideshow in the waiting room. Images of crippled children and maimed adults from a third world country filled the screen. I watched a team of doctors and nurses in surgery followed by post-op patients beaming with joy, their limbs wrapped in gauze and casts. I was watching the Seacoast NH Medical Team at work during their volunteer mission to Guayaquil, Ecuador. They’re called Annie’s Angels.

As Dr. Wilton wrapped my toe, he spoke passionately about this mission and the devoted local team of medical volunteers who make the eight-day journey each year. I dabble in filmmaking and the doctor immediately asked if I could film the team. A short documentary, he said, will educate people about this important work and help raise vital funds. I jumped at the opportunity. On March 29th over 30 local volunteers headed by Dr. Wilton of Portsmouth will help care for the poorest of the poor.

"This will be our tenth trip to Ecuador," Jim Wilton says. "We’ll be treating infants with club foot deformities, children with limb deformities, and adults afflicted with leprosy and severe arthritic knee joint destruction."

People suffering from leprosy, now called Hansen’s disease, are shunned by even their own families because of superstitious misunderstanding of the disease and its treatment. These people have little or no access to medical care -- care that can cure the disease and prevent the horrifying disfigurement that ensues if delivered early.

A few years ago Grace, a woman from Ecuador, couldn’t hold a sewing needle with her fingers. She could not pick up a pot from the stove. Worst of all, she couldn’t hold her baby boy in her arms for any length of time. Due to nerve damage caused by Hansen’s disease, Grace lacked strength and was losing sensation in her feet. Grace was the first Hansen’s patient in Ecuador to receive "miracle" nerve release surgery from the New Hampshire team. The results were so incredibly positive, that she decided to return for more surgery the following year. Not long after the second surgery, Grace became pregnant with her second child.

This extraordinary group of NH volunteers gives freely of their time and effort. This is not a vacation or sightseeing excursion. Work in the operating rooms may run more than 10 hours a day. At the end of the week our seacoast medical team will have performed over 200 surgical procedures.

Portsmouth-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas King has made many trips with the team. "Our mission," he says, "is to care for people in Ecuador who otherwise have no access to medical care. With our help, they can live productive, happy lives."

"Our primary surgical mission," King explains, "is to perform peripheral nerve surgery to restore sensation in hands, arms, legs and feet and also restore muscle power to paralyzed limbs. Orthopedic surgery is also performed for Joint Replacement. We return each year. It changes your life."

This year the team has over 50 patients scheduled for multiple peripheral nerve surgeries and total knee joint replacement. They are seeking financial help and support from the Seacoast NH community.

According to Dr. Philip Anderson, 100% of the funds raised goes to purchase medical supplies and defray the travel expenses of the nurses and surgical techs.

"To date we have raised a little over $10,000 and are still short about $15,000," Amderson says. Donations can be made through Damien House LLC, a non-profit organization (501c3) based in Chicago that oversees Annie’s Angels Seacoast Medical Team.

An easy-to-use, secure fundraising web site has been created for those wishing to contribute. Tax-deductible contributions can be made online at the web link below. Donations can also be mailed to Damien House LLC, c/o Annie’s Angels, 330 Borthwick Ave. Suite 112, Portsmouth, NH 03801.

Click here for DONATION INFO

Shirley Wolf is an independent filmmaker, marketing consultant and marketing director of SeacoastNH.com.